


Blue Bumble Bees

by TheLateNightStoryTeller



Series: Stories from a Parallel Universe [1]
Category: Agents of SHIELD - Fandom
Genre: A "how they got together" tale, AU Story where Hydra wasn't that bad and Fitz survived the pod mostly fine, F/M, Giant Blue Bumble Bees, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 07:57:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2574050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLateNightStoryTeller/pseuds/TheLateNightStoryTeller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in an alternate universe after the season 1 finale. Fitz has minimal damage from the pod incident and Hydra has just about been sent back to the shadows.<br/>Fitz and Simmons are struggling to sort out their feelings for one another when the team gets a case of giant killer blue bumble bees. FitzSimmons romance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 2 AM

Reiden Lake, Ontario. 2am EST.

Music blared from the radio, too loud for Hanna but she didn't say anything. It was the end of their first year of university and if Chris and Beth wanted to celebrate they were going to celebrate.

"C'mon Hanna!" Beth called from the lake. "Don't be such a tight toes!"

Tight toes, that was Hanna. The nickname was meant to be affectionate but sometimes she thought it was just a little too accurate.

"It's going to rain," she called, watching them splash from the shore. "It looks like a thunder storm."

"Oh no, if it rains we might get wet!" Kidded Chris.

"We'll get out if we hear thunder," Beth promised but as she did a white-purple bolt lit the sky and the two of them shrieked before running out of the lake as they heard the rumbling thunder.

'Told you,' Hanna thought smugly.

"That sounded close," Chris fretted.

"Let's get out of here!" Beth agreed taking Hanna's arm with her dripping, cold hand.

The three of them ran through the woods back to the car. Hanna was the fastest and she made it first. She couldn't get in though because Beth had the keys.

"Guys hurry up, unlock the car!" She yelled into the trees. "I'm getting soaked!"

No one replied.

"Guys?" She called again, starting to get nervous. "Beth? Chris?"

She heard screaming and dashed towards it.

'Great plan Hanna,' she scolded herself. 'Just run right into whatever has got them.'

But what else was she suppose to do?

There was a low humming buzz that was getting louder as she approached the fading screams.

She soon reached her friends, or what she thought must be her friends. They were so swollen they were almost unrecognizable. Their glassy, lifeless eyes stared up at her from puffy, red faces.

She started screaming where they had stopped and her cries were overtaken by the loud, low humming buzz of bees.

/-/-/

"Simmons?" Fitz's voice crackled across her end of the walkie talkies. "Oh, sorry... you're probably sleeping. Never mind."

She reached over and grabbed the device off her bedside table. "I'm awake," she replied, lifting it above her mouth and hitting the switch on the side while she spoke then placing it on her stomach to wait for his answer.

"Really? But it's so late, why aren't you sleeping?" He wondered.

'Why aren't you?' She thought. "Did you need something?" She inquired.

"No... Never mind, it wasn't... It's dumb, I shouldn't have bothered you." He sounded distressed.

"Well now that I'm bothered you might as well tell me," she joked, trying to cheer him up.

He didn't reply for a while. She ran her fingers up and down the antenna while she waited trying to guess what was keeping him awake.

"I don't remember what my favourite sandwich is." He finally said, his voice small. She hadn't guessed that.

"It's prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella, with just a hint of pesto aeoli," she reminded him brightly, or at least she hoped it sounded bright. She'd been going for bright.

"Oh," he answered sounding a little surprised. "Just a hint? How much is a hint?"

"Don't worry, I'll make one for you tomorrow," she promised. "I know exactly how you like it. You'll enjoy it, I'm sure you will."

"Of course I will, it's my favourite," he teased and she smiled. Cheeky Fitz.

"Get some sleep," she advised.

"You too," he crackled back. "I'm here if you have something that's keeping you up though."

"I know you are," she told him. "I'm fine. Goodnight."

"Sweet dreams," he wished her and she placed the walkie talkie back on her table.

She knew she could always talk to him. About anything, about everything. Everything except what was keeping her up.

She couldn't seem turn off the thoughts which banged around in her head like uncoordinated drums.

Months ago Fitz had told her, in not so many words, that he was in love with her. Told her and then torn her heart out, pressing the button which she'd been sure was going take him away from her forever, before she'd had a chance to even consider how she felt about him.

She knew she loved him. Of that she'd always been certain. She knew it because his smile never failed to cheer her up and because she never wanted to live without him. She knew it by the way her heart felt like it broke into pieces when he pressed the button and then came back together again when he finally opened his eyes and grinned at her.

He had woken up somewhat in pieces. There were gaps in his memory, he forgot things a child would know like how to tie his shoes, his middle name, which primary school he had attended. And he'd forgotten their time at the bottom of the ocean.

She'd helped him, along with the others and for a while his mother, to put the pieces back together. She'd told him everything she knew whenever he asked. Everything except his confession in the box.

She'd tell him though, eventually. She'd sworn to herself she would, it wasn't right keeping it from him, but she needed more time to sort through her own feelings. She didn't want to confuse him and she really didn't want to lose him, however she had no control at all over the second one.

He was so much to her. He was her partner, her best friend, the other end of her thoughts but was he anything else?

She sighed and rolled over to stare at the walkie talkie wishing she could talk to him.

Even a no would be easier than what she felt. No, you are not in love with him, now we can deal with that. However she wasn't entirely sure about no. She wasn't entirely sure about yes either so here she was, stuck in limbo, trying to figure out what he was to her.

He was her Fitz she resolved finally. That was an incredibly... accurate answer. Not very descriptive, not at all helpful but oh was it accurate.

It felt more like a cheap bandage than a solution.

/-/-/

Fitz lay awake, even though he was exhausted, trying to sort through his feelings for Simmons and trying to decode her feelings for him.

The sandwich had freaked him out momentarily but Simmons had fixed it like she always did. He wished she could fix this too.

He hadn't told her. They'd almost died and although he didn't remember any of it he knew he hadn't because she hadn't said anything about it in her account of what had happened. Your best friend confessing their love for you wasn't exactly a detail you left out. Unless it was a detail you wanted them to forget. Besides, if he hadn't come clean with his feelings for her he must have had a reason. He wasn't that much of a coward he would go to his grave never telling her. Perhaps he had read something off of her he no longer remembered, something that stopped him.

And if she returned his feelings, what had stopped her from confessing them to him? Simmons was no coward.

She didn't love him back he decided at last, feeling an ache where his heart was. No, that wasn't accurate at all, of course she loved him. She'd carried him up ninety feet of water on a single breath of air, risking her own life for the mere chance his could be saved. Apparently he'd done the same, giving that single breath they had to her. So at least that feeling was mutual.

Someone who didn't love you wouldn't wait by your bedside until you awakened and then cover your face in kisses when you did. Every part but his lips of course because, though she loved him, he was certain she wasn't in love with him. Which hurt, a lot, but not as much as it would hurt to lose her completely.

He was in love with her but she was more than that. She was his partner, his best friend, the other end of his thoughts. There was no way he was losing her to something as stupid as unrequited love.

Maybe stupid was the wrong word. Painful, complicated and immensely unpleasant were all much more descriptive of the feelings swishing around inside him right then.

He was going to have to be strong though because, whatever happened, he needed her to always be his Simmons.

"Fitz?" Her voice sounded across the walkie talkie.

Hadn't he known there was something she wanted to talk about? Of course he had, not to brag, but he always knew when something was bothering her. He was intuitive like that.

"What is it?" He asked, trying to sound open but not nosy.

He hoped this wasn't about Triplett. He wasn't ready to hear her gush on about her crush on the other agent. She hadn't told him she had one but it was as obvious as the fuzz on a bumble bee. He'd make up an excuse not to talk about it, suggest she confide in Skye instead. That was it, Skye was probably better at these things anyway.

Maybe she'd had another nightmare. There were nights she woke, shaking from dreams where she was trapped underwater. Those nights he'd go to her, give her a hug and stay with her until she felt safe enough to sleep. Sometimes he wouldn't leave until he heard her soft breathing, telling him she was dreaming again. Something nice he would hope.

He didn't mind staying. The nightmares were one thing he had been spared and he wanted to protect her from them the best he could.

"We have a case," she told him.

He hadn't been expecting that. He rolled over to look at his clock and sighed. It was five in the morning. How had the hours flown by so fast?

"OK, I'm on my way," he replied before stretching and getting out of bed.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who hasn't read my stories, I hide a reference to Fringe in every chapter of every one. Fringe is a science fiction series and one of my all time favourite TV shows
> 
> The Fringe reference in this story is Reiden Lake. In Fringe it is the frozen lake over which Walter first crosses over to the other universe.
> 
> This story is going to take place in the made up town of Reiden Lake Ontario, a made up town in southern Ontario. Shield had a base in Canada so why not take cases there? Besides, May went to Ontario once.
> 
> Oh yes and I need to say bumble bees are sweet, gentle creatures, do not fear them. Giant blue ones are not.
> 
> The next story in this series is WAVES and the entire series is posted on FF.net under my name, TheLateNightStoryTeller


	2. Sting

It was a cool, wet, foggy morning when they arrived at the woods around Reiden Lake, the namesake of the nearby town. Green plants shone with raindrops and Fitz irritably swatted away mosquitoes soon after he'd hopped out of the truck.

Giant bees, that was just great. These little bugs were bad enough. He felt a pang of sympathy for those poor souls who'd been killed by them. Not a way he'd want to go. At least one, a girl named Hanna, had survived but she was probably going to have nightmares for a long time to come.

"You have everything you need?" He asked Simmons as they removed their gear from the truck. He'd packed Sleepy, Happy and his tablet. She'd brought an entire box plus an enormous plastic bug cage.

"Giant sized insect enclosure, a sampling kit, an EpiPen just in case..." She listed off the things she'd put together. "Everything you'd need to go after giant bees or maybe wasps, I'd need to get a good look at them. The description was incredibly vague, poor girl. Probably a bee though," she chirped. "Oh! Or perhaps it's something completely knew, it's certainly an undiscovered species! Blue, what a pretty colour. Do you think we'll see one?"

She sounded so hopeful. He couldn't decide if that was cute or distressing.

'Distressing,' he told himself. 'Simmons is not cute, you need to stop that.'

No, she wasn't cute, she was adorable. He cursed himself.

"I'd rather we not see one," he admitted. "Bugs are bad enough when they're small."

"The one Hanna described was only around the size of a chihauha," she informed him, looking through her box. "That's not so big."

"It is for a bug," he grumbled and she rolled her eyes.

They joined their teammates at the scene of the attack. Skye and Coulson were questioning Hanna at her home so it was only May and Triplett.

The state of the swollen people made him sick. No, not a a good way to go at all. Hanna had said her one sting was excruciating, he couldn't imagine what over a dozen must be like.

Fitz stood between the others as Simmons knelt to examine the bodies, May rummaged through Simmons' box for a jar for the alarmingly huge stingers on her request.

"Is it just me or is she way to excited about this," Trip whispered.

"Well, it is giant killer bees," he replied jokingly. "That's always exciting... and horrible."

His friend chuckled.

Fitz liked Triplett, it wasn't the other man's fault Simmons had a crush on him. Well... OK maybe it was a little for him being so annoyingly charming but he'd been good to Fitz after he'd been hurt and he was the second best chess opponent he'd ever come across. Second to Simmons of course. He could like him even if he wasn't happy about the fact Simmons really liked him.

He was trying very hard to get over his unhappiness though, she was going to fall in love with someone eventually. Or maybe not, perhaps Simmons' true love was science and she had no room for anything else. Was it so wrong he was rooting for science?

Yeah, probably. Especially since it was for all the wrong reasons.

"There's probably a nest around here," Simmons was saying. "Can you and Trip get the bodies back into the truck while I take Fitz to scout ahead?"

"For the nest?!" He exclaimed. "Are you insane?"

She cast him patronizing glance before turning her attention back to the stingers. "We'll send Sleepy out ahead of us," she assured him. "A scout for some scouts," she laughed and he couldn't help smiling because his heart melted a little.

"OK", he agreed, cursing himself again. "But we aren't going near that nest without the proper gear."

Like a tank and a twenty foot pole.

"Of course not," she said as if he were being ridiculous. As if she didn't remember the giant hookworms.

She grabbed his arm, sending a vexing, wonderful tingle down his traitorous spine, and led him further into the woods in search of giant, killer bees. Or maybe wasps.

/-/-/

Simmons knelt down beside the beautiful, blue and black body of what looked like an enormous, fuzzy bumble bee. Fitz watched warily several feet away. He was so ridiculous sometimes.

It was arguably smaller than a chihuahua but still gigantic for an insect. There hadn't been insects this big since the Carboniferous and Permian periods, when atmospheric oxygen levels were much higher. She wondered excitedly how the colony was surviving. Possibly, they had developed a new respiratory system to deal with changing conditions.

She had been absolutely thrilled when they'd spotted the body on the screen. Fitz, of course, had insisted on prodding it a few times with Sleepy before going to finds it while she'd bounced around impatiently on her toes.

Carefully, she scooped up the insect's body and opened the container. As she lowered it in the creature sprang to life, beating it's wings and struggling against her. It managed to embed a stinger, like a large black thorn, below her elbow.

She cried out as white hot pain burned across her arm and barely managed to wrestle the giant insect into the container before collapsing to the ground against a tree.

"Jemma!" Fitz shouted panicked, racing towards her and falling to his knees in front of her.

The pain was so intense she thought she'd pass out and she tried feebly to remove the stinger with her good hand. Fitz realized she was struggling and removed it for her, chattering worriedly as he did.

"You'll be OK," he was saying. "Hanna was fine right? It's only one sting. Oh but it looks like it hurts! Does it hurt?" His voice filled with sympathy.

She nodded, gritting her teeth while a small whimper escaped her. He took her hand and she squeezed it, maybe a bit too tightly, while she waited for the pain to subside. He didn't complain and stroked the back of it gently with his thumb. It felt nice, made the burning in her arm easier to bear. The worst of the pain was fading already and she felt her body relax.

"You're OK," he murmured, wiping a strand of hair off her glistening forehead.

The gesture was so loving, so tender it took her by surprise. It must have surprised him too because he pulled away as if he'd touched something hot.

"You're all sweaty," he mumbled, blushing as he searched for a towel.

"Sorry," she whispered her gaze lingering on him as he moved away. She'd been... disappointed that he'd removed his hand, disappointed he'd stopped hovering over her.

"Don't be," he instructed, finding one and handing it to her. "That stupid bug shouldn't have stung you. Does it still hurt?"

"A bit," she answered as she took it gratefully and wiped her face. Her arm was still throbbing and was swollen and stiff but that would die down soon enough. She was finding it difficult to focus and she wasn't sure if it was because of the sting or Fitz touching her face. It burned too, where his fingers had brushed her skin, but it was a nice kind of burning. "She was probably just defending herself." She added, referring the bee who was buzzing around angrily in the enclosure.

"She?" He wondered. "How do you-"

"Drones, male bumble bees that is, don't sting," she explained.

"That's no bumble bee," he objected, glaring at it.

"It's pretty similar anatomically to a female worker," she insisted, getting shakily to her feet. "Except bumble bees don't leave stingers."

He reached out to steady her, looking concerned again. "You sure you should be getting up already?" He asked.

"It's only a bee sting," she dismissed, feeling herself blush as he looked her over anxiously. "I just hope she doesn't die because I was careless. Honeybees die when their stinger is pulled out."

So she enjoyed being fussed over, that didn't necessarily mean anything, it was nice to have people care about you. However, it didn't necessarily not mean anything either.

"That's one hell of a bee," he exclaimed. "Didn't let it get away though did you?" He added proudly, kneeling down to examine it.

She smiled at him. His praise felt good. "Let's get her back to the Bus."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fringe reference in this story is the line "that didn't necessarily mean anything... That didn't necessarily not mean anything either." In what lies below, Peter and Olivia are talking about a suspect who Olivia thinks is being sketchy. Peter says the first part and Olivia responds with the second part (making my cousin roll her eyes when we watched it haha).
> 
> I thought that one might be a little bit too vague so I also added the giant hookworms from the season 2 episode Snakehead. Think of the first one as a bonus. ;).


	3. Erin

'Why did I do that?' He wondered to himself as she peered curiously in at the bee. (She wasn't even upset with it! Dumb bug, stinging people with its thorny butt of evil.)

He'd been doing alright, it had a been a normal mission with his partner, his friend and then that stupid bee had come back from being a body to being some sort of crazy zombie bee and stung her poor arm.

And he'd been concerned, of course he had, but he'd been able to keep his emotions in check until she'd let out that little whimper. That one, distressing sound, had squeezed his heart like a fist and turned him into putty. Made him soft enough to reveal himself in an impulsive gesture of affection.

And it wasn't as if she hadn't been incredibly brave and tough, much tougher than he had been two years ago when a wasp had stung him on the nose. He'd sworn and complained for a solid hour after it happened.

She hadn't cursed or cried now, she'd simply held onto his hand (maybe a little too hard to be comfortable, he shouldn't have given her his bad one), clenched her teeth and got through it. Her courage, in fact, had only reminded him even more how much he loved her and contributed to his becoming soft, squishy putty.

He was going to need to learn to toughen up a bit, take some lessons from her.

"You're a rambunctious one aren't you?" She cooed. She was talking to the bee. It had stopped banging against the side of the box like an idiot and was now clinging to the top of it, looking out at them from upside down while it buzzed it's wings every few seconds.

"Why don't you just kill it?" He suggested glaring at the little demon.

"We can always kill it Fitz," she told him, lifting the box by the handle with her good arm and grinning knowingly at him. "We can't always bring it back."

'We probably could,' he thought. He'd seen it happen.

They talked with Trip and May through their walkie talkies and agreed to keep searching the woods. The other two agents were going to follow the stream to the lake.

Simmons' arm was swollen and his was still not completely recovered from the break (it still stiffened up slightly sometimes) but they had two good arms between them and they managed to gather the gear together and depart.

"Hey what do you got there?" A voice chirped behind them, it sounded like a child.

It was a child, he realized when he spun around. She appeared from between the trees and she couldn't have been more than twelve with dark frizzy hair tied in a messy ponytail and big black rubber boots. She was craning her neck, trying to look around Simmons to see the bee. Hadn't this area been sectioned off?

"Uh... Well... What's your name?" Simmons stammered, obviously as bewildered as he was and trying, with minimal success, to hide the bee which was once again bushing itself against the side of the box like an imbecile.

The girl hesitated, still gazing curiously at the box. Her eyes widened as she saw what was inside.

"Where did you get find that?" She breathed, dashing over and rudely shoving past Fitz to get a better look.

Simmons met his eyes seeming unsure what to do. He decided he'd better take charge.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to be nosy?" He scolded, not too harshly. He didn't want to scare her.

"Didn't anyone ever tell it isn't right to keep secrets?" She shot back. Clearly scaring her was not going to be a problem, little brat.

He stood in front of the cage, arms crossed, moving his body back and forth as she tried to peer around him. Simmons was looking increasingly uncomfortable.

The child sighed and crossed her arms too before frowning at him. "What are you top secret bee catchers?" She demanded obnoxiously. "I already know you have a giant blue bumble bee in there. You better show me if you don't want me to blab."

"There's no need for blabbing," Simmons assured her nervously. "You see we're... Fitz and I are..."

"Fitz?" She scoffed. "That isn't a real name, it's a last name."

"Then it's obviously a real name!" He barked. Who did this kid think she was, interrupting Simmons like that?

"OK, calm down. Jeez." She rolled her eyes. She actually rolled her eyes. At him! "I'm Erin. That's my first name. What's your name?" She inquired almost politely, turning to Simmons.

"Jemma Simmons," she replied, her usual good manners a sharp contrast to this ill-mannenered child, holding out her hand.

Erin shook it. "Hi Jemma," she smiled.

"That's agent Simmons to you." Fitz corrected hotly.

She glowered at him. "You're agents?" Her expression changed to one of excitement. "Oh! Oh my God! Are you two Shield? That is so cool!" Erin gazed up at Simmons, impressed, completely ignoring him.

"Jemma is fine," Simmons said quickly and he raised his eyebrows at her. This annoying kid wasn't going to get to call him Leo that was for sure. "Is it OK if I talk to Fitz privately for a minute?"

"Well... You really shouldn't talk behind people's backs," she lectured and Fitz could not believe this little imp was telling Simmons about how to be polite. What nerve! If he ever had children he hoped they'd have more respect than this one.

"Pinky swear?" Erin was asking and Simmons held out her finger for the girl to wrap her own around it.

"Pinky swear," she replied, smiling kindly. Simmons was so nice and polite he thought fondly.

Wait, what had she just promised?

"C'mon Fitz," she said brightly, leading him away.

/-/-/

Simmons led Fitz to what she thought was a good distance from the girl; far enough they wouldn't be overheard but close enough to keep an eye on her. There were still killer bees around after all.

"What did you promise her?" Fitz demanded anxiously.

"I just said she could see the bee," assured him in a hushed voice. Had he not been paying attention? "She already knows what it is," she added when he widened his eyes at her, aghast. "What harm can it do?"

"What harm?" He gasped. "Simmons that little-"

"She knows something," she cut him off.

The child had seen the creature before. She had recognized it, Simmons had seen it on her face.

"No, she just thinks she does," he told her irritably.

"She knew what it was, even without getting a good look at it she could tell it was a bumble bee." She asserted.

"Well... I mean it isn't really a bumble bee..." He protested.

She raised her eyebrows at him. Just because he couldn't get along with children didn't mean this wasn't a lead. "She knows something," she repeated. "Maybe she knows where the other ones are."

"Oh good, let's take the little imp to find more of those damn bees," he grumbled and she sighed.

"It's our job Fitz," she reminded him.

"I know," he mumbled.

"Besides you have nothing to worry about," she smiled, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I'll keep you safe."

Where had that come from? Had she always felt so protective of him? She decided she had, of course she had, he was her... Fitz. She couldn't ever remember saying it out loud like that though.

"I'm not scared," he told her quickly.

"Of course not," she agreed. Who was he trying to fool? Not scared. She had no problem with bees and she was frightened of finding a hive of these ones. He'd better be scared at least a little, those stings really hurt.

"And we'll keep each other safe," he said, smiling at her.

She nodded at him, that's what they always did. "And Erin." She added.

"She'd probably be much safer if we don't bring her along," he pointed out hopefully.

He was right, they weren't exactly going to the circus. It wouldn't be right to put Erin in danger by bringing her with them.

"We can find out what she knows and then send her on her way," she decided.

"Send her on her way?" He asked skeptically. "She doesn't really seem like the type to cooperate."

"Just let me do the talking," she instructed. She was sure Erin could be a perfectly cooperative child if you didn't start your conversations with a criticism.

He was silent while they returned to her.

"Can I see her now?" Erin squeaked, hopping over and pressing her nose against the plastic before Simmons had replied.

"A promise is a promise," she answered patiently.

"Depends who makes the promise," she contended, eyes on the bee. "Did she sting someone? Her stinger is out."

"She stung me," Simmons explained, holding out her swollen arm.

Erin winced sympathetically. "Ouch, that really hurts eh?"

Simmons shot Fitz a significant look, this girl had been stung before.

"How would you know?" She asked carefully, trying to sound casual.

The girl's gaze shifted back to the bee, she seemed nervous. "Oh... Ummm... Bees, you know... Ouch."

She was definitely hiding something.

"This isn't the first time you've seen one of these is it?" Simmons guessed.

"What does Shield want with them anyway?" Erin wondered, ignoring the question.

"To get rid of them of course!" Fitz exclaimed and Simmons nudged him, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. What happened to her doing all the talking?

Erin stared up at them unhappily. "I've never seen a bee like this before," she asserted.

Wonderful, now she was closing up again.

"They're very dangerous," Simmons warned. "People have been killed by them."

That surprised her. "Killed...?" She gulped.

"Which is why if you know anything-" she began.

"I don't," the child interrupted firmly. "Didn't I just tell you I've never seen one?"

Fitz looked like he wanted to spit something back at her but, to his credit, he held his tongue.

Simmons sighed. "OK." She opened their box, took out a pen and ripped a paper from her notebook. On it she scribbled her number. "If you do see something, or remember something, call me OK?"

Erin took the paper, not meeting her eyes. "OK," she mumbled, stuffing it in her the pocket of her raincoat.

"C'mon," Simmons said cheerfully, motioning for her to follow. "Let's get out of the woods, wouldn't want to run into a swarm of these."

"Bumble bees don't swarm," Erin told her. She certainly knew a lot about bees.

"They don't leave their stingers in either," she reminded her, holding up her arm. "These aren't exactly bumble bees."

"That's true," Erin shrugged. "OK, let's go then."

She walked ahead of them, looking over her shoulder impatiently as they shut the box and scooped up their things.

"What an infuriating little nuisance," Fitz muttered. "We should take her in for questioning, have May get it out of her."

"I don't think that would help," she disagreed, watching Erin skip ahead. She didn't know why this girl was so secretive about the bees however she suspected that once she had time to think about how dangerous they were she'd call. "She'll call me," she said confidentially. "We just need to wait."

Fitz grunted disbelievingly but didn't argue.

"Why'd you let her call you Jemma?" He wondered instead.

"I wanted her to trust me," she explained. "Besides," she smiled, "it's my name. You call me that all the time."

"Not really," he objected and she noticed he was right. Before today he hadn't called her Jemma in a long time. It had been just Simmons for months. How had she not noticed that? What had changed?

He was distancing himself from her, she realized, and she wondered with a pang of fear how far away he was going to go.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fringe reference in this chapter is the segment where Simmons says "we can always kill it, we can't always bring it back." To which Fitz responds "We probably could." In 1x11 Bound Walter has this conversation with Peter and Astrid about a giant cold virus. Peter suggests killing it and Astrid says "you probably could (bring it back)." I feel like Walter and Simmons would get along haha.
> 
> There actually are bees that are blue-ish (blue orchard bees). But I picture these bees a more blue-blue like the wasp the blue mud dauber ( which apparently rarely sting unless you really disturb them or are a black widow spider they want to feed to their babies). That colour but with a bumble bee pattern.
> 
> Also I meant putty like silly putty.


	4. Nightmare

It was getting later in the day and Simmons was placing the bee back into it's container after taking a final sample from it.

They had searched the woods for hours but hadn't found any other bees or evidence of a nest. Erin had been returned safely home and Simmons was still hopefully awaiting her call. The girl knew something and sooner or later she would realize the benefits of telling the truth.

The bee's body was filled with haemolymph, like most insects, a circulatory fluid like blood in humans which carried hormones, fats, proteins and sugars (but not oxygen) throughout the body. She suspected that, like most insects, it had tracheal tubes for oxygen delivery, tubes that led from spiracles (holes) on the outside to all the insect's tissues.

She wouldn't know until she dissected it though. That would need to wait, however, because she wanted to see if it would survive without it's stinger for over a day. She'd check on it tomorrow morning.

She had found several unique enzymes in the haemolymph, some of which she suspected were contributing to its ability to have grown so large in a comparatively oxygen poor atmosphere. Perhaps by increasing the efficiency of its metabolism.

Her focus now, however, was on the hormones and she was trying to create a mixture which would attract the other bees so they could capture them. So far her results were very good. She could make their insect visitor fly to any location in the lab she chose simply by spreading a small amount of the hormone mixture there.

Fitz was done his work for the day and had bravely opted to stay in the lab and keep her company while the bee buzzed around under the condition that she not leave any of her mixture around him.

"They won't stop itching," he complained, clawing at his mosquito bites.

"You aren't suppose to scratch them," she reminded him for the third time. Why did she even bother? He wasn't going to stop. "Maybe some bug-bite cream would help," she suggested.

"You have cream?" He asked, brightening.

"Of course I have cream," she chuckled. "It's special bite cream from a company called Kelvin Genetics, Shield standard. Good for even mutant mosquitoes apparently. Did you think I'd go on a trip into the woods and not have any for after? You know me better than that, I excel at preparation."

"Yeah, you do," he grinned, still scratching.

"Stop that," she scolded, causing him to swiftly move his hands to his side.

She opened a cabinet and retrieved the bug-bite cream. "Give me your arm," she said, squeezing some onto her finger.

"It's OK, I can put it on myself," he told her, holding out his hand for the tube.

"Well I've already got some so-" she began, reaching for his arm.

"Simmons I can do it myself," he insisted loudly, pulling away.

"Fine," she agreed, feeling a lump form in her stomach as she scraped the cream off her finger and back onto the end of the tube. "There you go," she mumbled, handing it over.

He wasn't letting her touch him anymore. Ever since they'd returned he'd been avoiding it. He'd shuffle a few extra inches away from her when she came to stand next to him, he'd leave a gap when their shoulders once would have touched, he pulled away when she reached out to him...

He was doing everything he could to avoid contact, creating an invisible chasm between them. She didn't understand exactly why he was doing it but it was breaking her heart.

"Thanks," he said softly, probably noticing her expression. Did she look as unhappy as she felt? Hopefully not, she was doing her best to keep her face neutral. "I'm sorry," he added. "I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just..." He sighed. "I need to learn to do things without you," he informed her with a small, sad smile.

"What are you talking about silly?" she giggled anxiously, trying and failing to lighten the mood. "I'm not planning on going anywhere. I'll always be here."

"Not always," he whispered.

'Yes always,' she thought but her throat had grown hot and she was afraid if she spoke her voice would break. She swallowed, suddenly needing to be anywhere but there. There was nothing left to do but wait anyhow, she'd done all the tests she'd needed to on their insect visitor.

"Oh," she squeaked, struggling not to sound upset. "I just remembered I need to..." But she couldn't think of any excuse to leave. "In my room," she finished lamely, turning her face away and feeling her eyes burn.

"Simmons," he murmured, stretching his hand towards her. For a moment she thought he was going to cross the chasm, make contact but instead he pulled his arm back towards himself, his face stoney.

That broke her. She couldn't stand staying there any longer so she bolted out of the lab and towards her room, her tears escaping as she left.

He didn't follow.

/-/-/

Fitz kicked the leg of the desk, his eyes burning. It sent a throbbing pain through his toe and he cursed under his breath as he felt his tears escape, falling down his face onto the metal surface.

He'd hurt her, been too cold, too distant and she didn't understand. Why would she?

It had taken everything he had not to reach out and comfort her, to touch her shoulder after hearing how her voice had squeaked miserably when she spoke, tearing at his heart. He was hurting, she was hurting and he wasn't even sure he'd done the right thing pulling away from her. It hadn't changed anything about how he felt and now she was upset. She probably thought... He had no idea what she thought except maybe that he didn't like her anymore, that he didn't want her to always be there. But he did, that was why he was doing this.

He tilted his head upwards, hands clenching the top of the desk, trying to blink away his tears.

/-/-/

Simmons locked the door and squirmed as far into the corner as she could, hugging her knees to her body and trying to make herself smaller. Trying to disappear and go somewhere else for a while.

Sobs shook her and she tried to cry quietly, she didn't want to have to explain to anyone what was making her so upset.

Upset, that was an understatement. She was devastated, furious and completely miserable.

She wasn't the type to break down over little things, over someone not wanting you to put cream on their bug bites, but this was more than that.

Fitz had made up his mind that he didn't want to be her Fitz any more; not her friend or her partner or her other half. He wanted to leave, pull away from her. The stupid fact that he was in love with her had made it too difficult and he was giving up. He had decided she wasn't worth it and that hurt worse than she'd thought anything could. She'd rather get stung by that bee again.

How could he? After all they'd been through, how could he just throw her away like this?

He'd told her, in that box at the bottom of the ocean, that she was more than his best friend. He'd acted as if she should be the one to survive because he loved her more than she loved him. That couldn't be true though, if anything she loved him more than he loved her because she would have never given up on him no matter how much it hurt. Damn it Fitz! How could he do this to her?

She was being too hard on him, she realized that. She had no idea what he must be feeling right now, no idea how difficult things must be for him. He was probably hurting too but she was so angry and heartbroken she couldn't find it in herself to forgive him. Not yet.

/-/-/

"Hey," Skye called cheerfully, skipping into the lab. "I just came to check on- what happened?" her smile froze and faded as she noticed his expression.

He wiped his eyes and tried to hid his face from her, "I'm fine."

"Fitz, you're not fooling anyone," she told him. She tried to put her hand on his shoulder but he backed away. "What is it?" she asked softly.

What was he suppose to tell her? That he was confused and hurt and dejected because he didn't know how to handle being in love with his best friend? That now he wasn't only hurting himself but her too?

He shook his head, at a loss for words.

"You don't have to tell me," she assured him. "It might make you feel better if you do though."

"I can't," he mumbled.

Her eyes narrowed sympathetically and she stood beside him while he found his voice.

"What did you come to check on?" he wondered.

She smiled. "Oh yeah that, actually it might make you feel better. I came to check on Blue."

"What?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Blue the bumble bee," she chirped.

She'd named it... oh no.

"She's actually really great to cuddle with, it would probably cheer you up a little if you tried." she was telling him and his sense of impending disaster was tingling. "I know you don't like bugs but she's safe. The stinger is gone and Simmons says she can't bite because her mouth piece is a proboscus like a butterfly's. She only eats flowers."

Those must be some flowers. "Nectar to be specific," he informed her.

"Yeah," she grinned, opening the cage and cuddling the giant bee. "Wanna hold her?"

He wasn't going to tell her. Somebody should but it wasn't going to be him. He couldn't deal with making two of his friends cry in one day. So instead he took the bee and pet it's fuzzy back as it looked up at him with those big black eyes.

"I'm going to go get some food," Skye told him after a few minutes. "Do you want to come?"

He shook his head, still stroking the bee.

"Fitz..." she sighed, her eyes once again filling with sympathy.

"I'm fine," he assured her, trying to smile. "Go eat."

When she left he took the bee and locked it back in its cage. It buzzed around and gazed at him with those annoyingly cute eyes.

"Don't look at me like that," he hissed at it. "I'm not the mean one here, you're the one who goes around stinging people. That really hurts you know."

The bee had no idea what he was saying and continued to stare at him.

He sat down and lay his chin on his hands, staring back. "What am I gonna do?" he asked it pointlessly.

/-/-/

Simmons was underwater again. There were miles of ocean above her; horrible, heavy, crushing water. The glass walls surrounding her kept it away but they were breaking. Each horrible crack filling her with terror.

Where was Fitz? He was always there with her. Why wasn't he now?

It was better, she decided, that he wasn't. She'd rather him live than be there to hold her hand.

The glass gave with a horrible creak, shattering into sharp pieces and letting the water rush in, crushing her and rushing down her nose and throat.

She woke up, sweaty and trembling. Instinctively she reached for the walkie talkie and switched on the side button.

"Fitz?" She called, unable to keep the catch from her voice. Then she remembered he probably wouldn't be there.

"I'm coming," he replied, startling her.

It didn't take long for him to appear and the moment he saw her he rushed forward and pulled her into a hug. She must have been a mess.

She held him tighter than usual, crying and shaking and he held her too, like he always did. Why had she thought he wouldn't be there?

"It's OK," he assured her, rubbing her back, "it was only a dream, just a bad dream. It's over."

It wasn't only the dream though, her tears were for more than just something in her head. She was sobbing because she had thought the unthinkable and she was so glad she had been wrong. But she couldn't tell him any of that so she pressed her face into his shoulder and waited for it to stop. She waited for the sound of water to cease roaring in her head and for her lungs to stop feeling like they were filled with it.

He waited, rubbing her back soothingly and telling her it was OK.

She wasn't afraid anymore. He was warm and comforting and she felt safe in his arms because, as long as the were together, nothing was so bad.

"That was a bad one," he commented quietly when she fell silent.

He pulled away and she shook her head. "Not really. I wasn't drowning for long this time and I didn't get stuck in the box."

He searched her face before averting his eyes, looking guilty. "I'm sorry," he whispered and she knew he was talking about earlier.

"It's OK," she replied, lifting his chin so his eyes met hers. They were bright with tears.

"I don't really want you to go anywhere," he said.

"Well that's good, because I'm not going anywhere," she smiled her humour returning as the lump in her stomach disappeared. He wasn't leaving her. "I like it here, I get to play with giant bumble bees."

He smiled back, relief clear on his face. "About the bee... have you talked to Skye?"

She blew out and shook her head because she had. "I guess we're keeping it as a pet now," she chuckled. They didn't really need to dissect it, especially if they could get others.

"I guess we are," he laughed.

She stared for a while at his face, wanting something but not sure what it was she wanted. After a minute she gave up trying to figure it out and gently kissed the spot between his eyes. "Thank you," she said. "For coming, for being here."

He patted her knee and let his hand rest there afterwards, eyes not leaving her face. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The information on insects is correct to the best of my knowledge (except of course what is unique to the giant bee haha) feel free to correct any mistakes I have made, it's a good way to learn.
> 
> The Fringe reference in this chapter is Kelvin Genetics. It was the secret company Walter worked for doing classified work for the US government.
> 
> Insect size is limited by the ability of their tracheal system to deliver oxygen to their tissues. As the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere decreases, it becomes more difficult for the oxygen to get to the further away tissues.
> 
> Also, actual bumble bees do not have the same mouth piece as butterflies.


	5. Notes

They were back in the woods and Simmons was spreading her hormone mixture onto the bottom of the various trap cages they had constructed from planks of wood and sheets of hard plastic. Holes drilled into the top let in air.

May and Coulson were in town, trying to find someone who had information on the bees but, as far as Simmons had heard through their radio, they weren't having any luck. On the bright side no one was going into the woods anymore since word of the attack had spread. The official story was killer bees released from a nearby research centre. Regular killer bees of course, not the giant blue variety, but still enough to scare off most.

Skye and Triplett were searching the area for signs of the giant bees (and for unsuspecting hikers). Since the bee's stingers were large enough to penetrate any bee suit, they were armed with Shield grade bug spray (it had been used once on the mutant mosquitoes for which the bug-bite cream had been designed for).

Fitz was combing the woods using Happy in between helping her set up the traps.

"There's nothing out there," Fitz told her, almost sounding relieved. "If we didn't have Blue I'd think these things were made up."

It was strange, Simmons agreed, that they hadn't found any others however it was an enormous area and they knew next to nothing about their behaviour. For all they knew, the insects could be nomadic or in the middle of a migration.

All they did know was that they either traveled in groups or grouped together at certain points and that they would swarm. Fitz and Skye had also discovered that they could be incredibly docile, even seeming to enjoy having their head and thorax stroked.

They were both content keeping it as a pet. A pet giant blue bumble bee! Where would someone even buy food for something like that? Would you find it in the same aisle as badger kibble and naked mole rat feed?

"Blue?" she teased. "You too Fitz?"

"She's a good listener," he defended. "besides she has those adorable little eyes and she's so fuzzy."

"And she stung my arm," Simmons added, but she wasn't annoyed with him and smiled affectionately in his direction.

Fitz had grown to like their new pet almost as much as Skye, taking her out and talking to her and patting her head. He'd convinced Simmons to let her have free run of the lab while they were preparing for their return to Reiden Lake and she'd taken to perching beside him so he could pat her fuzzy back while he worked. He was adorable.

They were adorable, she corrected herself, him and Skye.

"Oh don't be jealous Simmons," he joked, putting down his monitor and coming over to help her spring the final trap. "You're still my favourite person to talk to."

"I'm glad I'm ahead of the bee," she kidded back, scrunching her nose at him and laughing. "Especially considering she can't even talk."

She was happy he'd said she was his favourite even if he hadn't needed to. They'd always be each other's favourites... well unless one of them found boyfriend or a girlfriend. It was going to happen eventually; they were both good, intelligent people and anyone who had eyes could see that Fitz was attractive. You didn't need to have feelings for him to notice that. And he was sweet and brave and unbelievably kind-hearted even if he was a bit of a grump sometimes. She was sure he'd find someone who's heart would tell them yes, this is the one for me.

She hoped whoever it was wouldn't have too much of a problem with her being so close to him. She may very well remain his favourite person to talk too, with her being his perfect equal intellectually and understanding him better than anyone else in the world and all. Whoever he ended up with was just going to need to deal with her being there however, because he was her Fitz and she was his Simmons and neither of them were going anywhere.

She was thinking too far ahead though she realized, seeing problems that may never develop and probably wouldn't be an issue anytime soon. Fitz was so busy with his work he didn't have much time for dating and what did he need a girlfriend for anyway? Someone to buy flowers for on Valentine's day? He could just buy flowers for her if he was so desperate to have a Valentine. She would enjoy that, she could keep them in her room. There was no sunlight but they'd last long enough on her desk...

"Oh great," he grumbled, interrupting her thoughts. "How did she even get here? What is she a kid or a sneaky ghost?"

"I'm a preteen actually," Erin shot back hotly and Jemma looked up to see her strolling towards them from the thick bush. "And as if you guys know these woods better than me, I know you're Shield and all but I have lived here all my life and I'm pretty sure I know a few things you haven't found out yet."

She certainly was confident, and that wasn't necessarily a negative trait, however her smugness seemed to be getting to Fitz.

"You really shouldn't be out here," Simmons said before Fitz could shoot back something that would make the girl even more uncooperative than she already was. "It isn't safe. You've seen what we're looking for. We need to be out here, it's our job, but you can stay home safe and sound, maybe play some video games?"

"Are you actually telling me I should stay inside and watch a screen instead of getting some fresh air?" Erin demanded and Simmons could see she was amused. This child thought she was funny. Well, she was funny but she hadn't been trying to be then. Simmons noticed that she was ignoring Fitz, all of the girl's attention was on her. She probably wasn't feeling too friendly towards him after their last meeting but maybe... maybe she was starting to warm up to her.

"You're right," she chuckled. "Silly me. Video games, what an awful suggestion!" Fitz raised his eyebrows at her but remained silent. "A budding young entomologist such as yourself would probably be more interested in a book on Hymenoptera. Am I right?" She ruffled through her backpack before retrieving the book she'd brought along for the mission. It had been purchased at a nearby bookstore because she wanted to be sure she had read up on hymenoptera (an order of insects which included wasps and bees as well as ants and sawflies) before departing again. It was important to always be prepared.

"You'd really just lend this to me?" Erin gasped, looking pleased as she handed it over.

"Of course," she smiled. "You can even keep it if you can't track us down. Now go on, go home and read it." she shooed.

"You don't talk to a lot of kids do you?" she giggled. "You sound like you're talking to a dog."

Again with this girl thinking she was funny when she wasn't trying to be. At least she wasn't hostile.

"Sorry," she apologized, still smiling. "Please go back to your home and read the book."

Erin looked unimpressed with her second attempt. "I have some information for you," she told her, shoving the book into her messy backpack and pulling out a raggedy notebook. "You were right, I have seen the bees before."

"We knew it!" Fitz exclaimed. "It's very, very bad to lie Erin," he scolded.

Simmons really wished he would stop letting this kid get under his skin, it wasn't helping.

"It's Ms. Hotchner to you agent Fitz," she glared at him. "Or Hotchner if that's too hard for you."

"Too hard for me?" he shot back. "I'm an adult and you're only a kid. You should show me some respect."

Simmons groaned internally, that was not the right thing to say.

"An adult?" Erin scoffed. "How old are you like fifteen?"

"I'm much older than that, not that it's any of your business but-" he began, looking outraged.

"Fitz can you go check on Happy?" she interrupted, widening her eyes at him disapprovingly.

"But-"

"Please," she demanded.

He sighed, "Yeah, fine."

"Don't go too far though," she warned more kindly. "And be careful."

His face softened and he smiled at her. "You too."

She watched him as he disappeared behind the trees, wondering if she should have sent him out on his own. Her heart clenched fearfully at the thought of him running into a swarm of those bees.

"So... you're friends with that guy?" Erin asked skeptically.

"He's my best friend," she informed her proudly. Erin may not have been able to witness the good qualities Fitz had but that didn't mean Simmons was going to pretend she didn't get to see them every day.

"Why?" she wondered, seeming baffled.

"Because he is," Simmons replied simply. "I'm sure your friends can be disagreeable sometimes but you still like them right?"

"I don't have any friends," Erin shrugged.

Oh, poor girl.

"Don't look all sad about it," Erin said, rolling her eyes. "The people at my school are all stupid anyway. They think I'm weird because I like insects so much and they don't talk to me, but they're the weird ones. Some of them think insects are gross! Can you believe that?"

"People can be a bit ridiculous when it comes to certain creatures, especially ones that are very different from us," she agreed. "But you must have someone you get along with."

"Well, Matt used to be my friend but then he moved away." she admitted. Simmons could tell she was more upset by that than she was trying to appear.

"He can still be your friend," she pointed out. "Where did he move to?"

"Vancouver," she said flatly. "Didn't you want me to show you my notes? Aren't you some sort of scientist not a guidance counsellor?"

There was that hostility again.

"Yes please, that would be helpful." Simmons replied cheerfully. She was the adult here and, unlike Fitz, she wasn't going to let this child goad her into an argument.

Erin handed over her notebook and Simmons flipped carefully through it. She'd seen the insects several times by the looks of it. She had detailed drawings of the wings, mouth piece and body and there was a thorn-like black stinger tapped to one of the pages as well as a small plastic bag filled with blue and black fuzz. Notes on the side and on other pages outlined their behaviour and the similarities to other bees.

"They live in a colony?" she inquired, lifting her eyes from the book.

"A small one, only around forty or forty five adults I think, I haven't seen where they nest. They hunt birds but they can't eat them with their probiscus. I think they're feeding them to their young like blue mud daubers do with black widow spiders."

"You certainly are knowledgeable about insects," she commented. "That book I gave you might be old information for you."

"I'm sure I'll learn something new," Erin grinned. "Thanks for lending it to me. You can borrow my notebook but you have to give it back. You guys know where I live right? You probably keep tabs on everyone. I bet you know my internet history."

"That's not really my job," Simmons jested. "We have a different team for snooping on internet histories."

This time Erin laughed at an actual joke. "My address is 1671 Othello st., Othello like the play."

"1671 Othello," Simmons repeated. "OK, just let me jot that down." she took out her own notebook and Erin waited as she wrote the address. "Thank you Ms Hotchner."

"You can call me Erin," she grinned. "Just you though."

"Thank you Erin." she said, choosing to ignore the girl's hostility towards Fitz. At least now she seemed to like her, which was progress. "And maybe leave the bees alone," she added. "I know you're curious but they really are dangerous."

"I will," Erin agreed, but Simmons suspected she was lying. "Bye!"

"See you later," Simmons waved wondering if she should have escorted her out.

She'd be fine, none of her team had found any bees around and Skye and Trip were patrolling the woods still.

"Fitz!" she called, wandering into the trees, away from the traps.

"How'd it go?" he asked, popping out from behind a group of bushes. She suspected he hadn't gone too far.

"Very well actually," she told him, coming to stand close beside him. He didn't move away even when she brushed his shoulder with hers to show him the notebook.

"Well someone was a busy little liar," he grumbled.

"At least now we have some more information to work with," she pointed out.

"Always the optimist," he chuckled, gazing fondly at her.

Simmons grinned back at him. The expression on his face was making her insides feel warm and fuzzy like a bumble bee.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Erin is named after Aaron Hotchner from Criminal minds. Just because, no particular reason. I can't come up with my own names haha.
> 
> Vancouver is in British Columbia, Canada. It is pretty far from Ontario (a six hour flight from where I live.)
> 
> The Fringe reference is when Simmons is thinking you'd have to look for giant blue bumble bee food where you find badger kibble. In Fringe, people in the other universe keep badgers as pets.
> 
> The naked mole rat is sort of a reference to Kim Possible. Kim's friend Ron has a naked mole rat named Rufus for a pet. (singing the naked mole rap* "do you need a cage? No I'll keep him in my pocket!")
> 
> Also when Simmons thinks warm and fuzzy like a bumble bee the bumble bee is just fuzzy. They are ectotherms so it probably won't be warm. Although I do think beating it's wings makes a bee's thorax warmer.
> 
> Also Erin is partially inspired by notapepper's Fitz in Oh to Be Young as well as the character Listen from The Lord of Opium (The sequel to House of the Scorpion)


	6. Flowers

They sat in the field at what Simmons had deemed a safe distance away from the traps.

There had still been no sign of the bees however she seemed in a good mood, humming brightly to herself as she took out their lunch. (They'd made each other sandwiches and she'd made him pack carrots, yogurt and cherry tomatoes.)

It was nice, having a picnic with her at the edge of a pretty forest, and he found himself humming along contently. Music was one thing he hadn't forgotten at all, the melodies of the songs he knew easily flowed from his mind.

Neither of them was going anywhere, he understood that now. Wherever their lives took them they were always FitzSimmons.

Well, not always FitzSimmons exactly. In their final year at the academy their chemistry professor had taken to calling them Columbium. Once thought to be it's own element Columbium was later discovered to be composed of two very similar elements, Niobium and Tantalum. The confusion had arisen because the two elements were almost always found together and incredibly difficult to separate, even today.

He'd called them that both amusedly and critically. Once when Fitz had been particularly grumpy about being forced to work with a partner other than Simmons, one who was far less cooperative and who didn't keep up with his ideas or shoot back clever ones of their own like she did, their professor had thrown up his hands and exclaimed "Just like Columbium, the both of you! Just do the project! You can't work together every time."

Their old professor hadn't really been fair. Simmons hadn't uttered a single complaint about the incompetent engineer she'd been forced to work with and he could work with others, he did all the time now. It was just that in the lab, everywhere really, he preferred Simmons over anyone else by a long shot. Was that really such a horrible thing?

"Here you go," she chirped, unpacking his sandwich and placing it on his lap. "Let's see what you got for me, oh smoked salmon and cream cheese! You know me so well," she praised warmly, causing his heart to glow wonderfully before she took a bite.

She made a surprised face and chewed slowly before swallowing. "Mmm," she said but he didn't believe her.

"I messed it up didn't I?" He asked, crestfallen. Damn it, what was it with sandwiches?

"No, no," she assured him kindly, forcing herself to take another bite. "It's delicious," she informed him after swallowing painfully.

"What did I mess up?" He demanded, refusing to have her coddle him.

"It's the pepper," she admitted, casting him an apologetic glance. "I don't really-"

"You don't like pepper with cream cheese," he finished, frustrated with himself. It was two ingredients, two! How had he mucked that up?

"It's OK," she soothed, patting his knee before holding it up to take another bite.

"Don't eat it on my account!" He exclaimed.

"It's fine," she smiled, stubbornly optimistic. "Look I'll just scrape it off." She took out the one of the spoons they'd packed for the yogurts and wiped off the peppered cream cheese before once again taking a bite.

This time she looked genuinely pleased. "Yummy," she grinned.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled still feeling bad.

Her eyes flared and suddenly she looked angry. "Leopold Fitz don't you dare apologize for this," she commanded. "This is not your fault it's that... That bloody traitor's fault for what he did to us! You did the bravest thing I have ever witnessed and you saved my life. It's a miracle you are still alive, a damn, wonderful miracle so don't you dare say you're sorry."

His full name and two swear words. He'd really set her off.

He let out a breath. "OK, I'm not sorry."

Her face softened, eyes bright. "Now I'm sorry," she sighed. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry, you have every right to be upset by what's happened. I can't even imagine... It's just..." Her voice lowered. "You're there too Fitz. You're there in my nightmares and sometimes I can't save you."

"You did save me though," he reminded her, taking a turn at being the chipper one. "I saved you and then you saved me. Except you remember it." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You can be upset too you know. It happened to both of us."

She placed her hand over his and smiled at him.

"Look at the pair of us," she said after a minute, rubbing her eyes. "All tears and frowns on such a gorgeous day. And you haven't even tried your sandwich."

"We can't have it going uneaten," he grinned and she gave him back his hand so he could open it.

It was the best sandwich ever and he told her so.

"You're a sweetheart," she chuckled, kissing his cheek. Then she turned pink and went back to her own sandwich, eating it with slightly more gusto than before.

Sweetheart, he liked that. It made his heart turn to butter on a hot day.

He wondered why she'd blushed. Probably because she was embarrassed by his compliment, he decided. She was a confident person but she could be modest about certain things.

When they finished their lunch he began picking dandelions and tying them together, keeping his hands busy while they waited. He made a bracelet from them and strengthened it by weaving in stands of grass.

He handed her the tiny wreath of yellow flowers. "Here, why don't you take this, a prize for making the best sandwich ever."

She took it in her hands and didn't say anything for several seconds as she examined the flowers. He couldn't decipher the expression on her face as she slowly passed her fingers over them.

What was she thinking? Had he gone too far? Acted too much like she was something more than his friend? Could friends make flower bracelets for each other? Oh no, what had he done?

She opened her mouth to speak.

Oh no, here it came. 'Oh Fitz. Poor, sad, silly Fitz. You know I don't feel that way don't you?' And then she'd give him one of those pitying looks and he would feel his heart breaking just a little as he smiled at her and assured her, 'Of course not, I never thought that. Not in my wildest dreams.'

"I haven't made one of these in a long time," she said actually before smiling and placing it on her wrist. "Would you like one?"

"Me?" He asked surprised but relieved she hadn't taken the gift the wrong way. Or... the right way. Anyway she hadn't discovered his secret.

"Yes you, who else am I going to make it for? The bees?" She chuckled. "Oh, well... actually... The bees might like a bunch of flowers but seeing as they aren't here," she shot a significant glance at the empty traps. "I think that makes you first in line."

He grinned at her, he loved her playful, funny jokes. "OK," he agreed cheerfully. "Can you make it out of those purple ones growing in the shade there? They look really neat, like some kind of alien tranquilizer dart."

She seemed amused, "That's bittersweet nightshade," she informed him. "It's probably could be used in some sort of dart... All parts of the plant are poisonous."

"Ah," he said, feeling embarrassed. "Maybe just dandelions then."

"Yeah, maybe," she giggled.

She fashioned him a bracelet of his own from dandelions and they debated which was the best metal to make bracelets with as he watched her put it together.

She had such beautiful hands, he thought. And so steady too, she would have done well in his field if that had been what inspired her. Or she could have been a painter or a guitar player or something else wonderful. He was glad, however, they had decided on different disciplines because it meant that now they complemented each other perfectly.

It wasn't only her hands which were beautiful he reflected, but all parts of her, even the parts that couldn't be seen like her heart and her mind and her sense of humour.

'Careful,' he warned himself. 'This isn't a train of thought you want to follow.'

He was feeling that tug on his heart again, pulling him towards her in a way he knew could never be.

Not that he hadn't fantasized about it. Sometimes he would catch himself daydreaming of a life where she returned his feelings. Other times he would catch her looking at him and trick himself into wondering if it was the same way he looked at her when he thought she couldn't see.

'If you can dream a better world, you can make a better world.' His mum had once told him but he didn't think that applied in this particular situation. He'd always answer with a joke, one which made little sense but made his mother laugh each time he said it. 'Or travel between them.'

But that wouldn't work either because everything he wanted was in this world.

She finished his bracelet and squeezed it gently over his hand onto his wrist.

Then she smiled at him and tapped their bracelets together softly, her hand momentarily pressing against his, feeling soft and warm and right. He tapped back, beaming at her.

'Everything is here,' he decided. 'Everything I need is right here.'

/-/-/

She'd called him sweetheart. Why had she done that?

Well, she reasoned, he was a sweetheart. But it was more than that. He was... precious to her. Precious like treasure, like the other half of her heart.

She watched him, blowing dandelions and chirping merrily about chain designs (they'd moved on from bracelet) and felt an overwhelming sense of love.

There was no where else in the world she wanted to be right then but beside him. She loved every part of him with every part of herself.

Did that mean she was in love with him?

He'd gotten her flowers and even if they'd just been dandelions it had made her feel amazing. She knew this flower bracelet was remaining on her bedside table for as long as it possibly could without rotting.

Could she be-

"There are pages missing," Fitz announced, interrupting her ponderings.

"What?" She asked, leaning over the book to see.

Sure enough there was a small space near the beginning of the book where tiny ripped edges near the binding told them pages had been ripped out.

"What is she hiding?" He wondered, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

Simmons felt for the address in her pocket.

"I think we'd better go find out," she decided.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Niobium and Tantalum are real elements. I learned about them from a book called The Elements by Jack Challoner.
> 
> Bittersweet nightshade really is a nice looking plant. It has berries that look like cherry tomatoes but don't ever eat any of it! Not good!
> 
> I have no idea what Simmons' favourite sandwich is, I just picked something yummy.
> 
> The Fringe reference in this story is Fitz's joke with his mom about better worlds. Walter says something very similar in Bad Dreams. The 'or travel between' them was an early hint to the existence of another universe. His words were 'If you can dream a better world, you can make a better world... Or perhaps travel between them.'


	7. Confession

"Maybe you should wait with the traps," Simmons suggested, remembering their last two encounters with Erin. "She doesn't-"

"Have any respect for authority." Fitz grumbled.

Authority? Were they authority? They probably were, she realized surprised, being secret agents and all. She doubted Erin would agree however.

"-seem very fond of you." She finished, face determinedly neutral. She wasn't going to pick a side in this argument which felt as if it were between two children not one child and an adult.

"Fair enough," he sighed. "She does seem to like you at least, but then who doesn't?"

That made her blush.

"I'm sure a lot of Shield's enemies don't like me that much," she mused.

"Well that's how you know someone's a bad guy, they don't like Simmons because she's going to outwit them and foil their evil plot," he joked and she chuckled at him.

"I'm going to radio Skye or Trip to come stay with you," she decided, pulling out the walkie talkie.

"Oh c'mon Simmons," he complained "I may not be exactly Thor or anything but I think I can handle watching some traps. What do you think is going to happen? I'm going to get abducted by a deer?"

"Well there could be bears," she protested. She was not being overprotective, she wasn't. This was basic summer camp rules 101; walk in twos and tie your shoes. He was already good on the first one. "Or those bees could come, we are baiting them after all."

He sighed. "Fine, it'd be nice to have some company anyway."

"Thank you," she said watching fondly as he blew another dandelion into a flock of fluffy parachuters and feeling her heart being tugged towards him.

Precious, that was a good word to describe what he was to her. He was her precious Fitz.

There, progress, she had an adjective. Not a solution yet exactly, but definitely a better quality bandage.

/-/-/

"So do you think anything is going to come?" Skye asked, leaning against a tree.

He shrugged. "The traps work, well they worked on Blue anyway. That won't matter if the bees have moved on though."

"Poor Blue, it's gotta be tough getting left behind by your friends," she lamented sympathetically. "At least she's got me and you now," she added more cheerfully. "She really is a great pet. And I'm glad we finally found out she can drink watered down honey."

He grinned at her. "She is adorable," he concurred. "With those little eyes and her wiggly antennae."

"Speaking of adorable is that from Simmons?" She inquired, pointing to his bracelet.

His face flushed. "Yeah..." he mumbled. "I made her one... You know, keeping my hands busy- not that I wanted to do anything else with them! I mean... what else would I want to do? Just... er..."

"Way to be awkward Fitz," she teased, giggling at him. "I knew what you meant."

"Right." He said, his face hot.

She tilted her head at him, deep in thought it appeared.

"The other day," she ventured slowly. "That was about Simmons wasn't it? She seemed a bit out of it too when I talked to her. Did you two have a fight?"

"Not exactly," he replied, staring at his shoes. Suddenly he needed to tell someone the truth, it had been eating away at him for too long. Skye was his friend, and a good one at that, she would understand.

"I'm in love with her," he blurted out, before he could make up an excuse not to. "I love her and she doesn't love me, well she does but not in the same way. And she's my best friend and I can't... I've been trying not to lose her because that means something to me. That's important and I wouldn't give it up for anything but... I messed up. I was too cold yesterday and I really hurt her."

He had apologized and she had forgiven him but he still felt immensely guilty. He'd just let her cry, let her run out with that look on her face like she'd lost her best friend... Which he knew now was exactly what she'd thought was happening. As if he'd ever let it.

Skye listened patiently, seeming less surprised than he expected. Maybe he wore his heart on his sleeve, he reasoned. Ward had known, Ward who had betrayed them, so why wouldn't Skye who actually cared about them?

"Have you talked to her about this?" She asked.

He shook his head. "I don't really see what good that would do." He told her.

"Then how do you know she doesn't feel the same way?" She wondered.

He laughed, what a ridiculous question. "She doesn't," he insisted. "I know she doesn't."

"Uh huh," she conceded, not sounding entirely convinced but not pushing him on it. "It's still better if you tell her. She'll understand, maybe she'll even help you. And it'll help you avoid confusing her."

"And it's going to break my heart when she looks at me like I'm poor, sad soul." He added unhappily.

"It isn't going to be easy," she admitted. "But Fitz, you need to tell her. She's your best friend and she loves you. I've seen you two together and believe me, nothing is going to change that. You can work this out but you need to be honest with her."

He frowned but he knew she was right. He'd already hurt Simmons once with his secrets and he didn't want to risk doing it again ever.

"You know you're pretty good at these things," he smiled at her. "You could make a living off fixing people's problems."

"I already do," she grinned. "I work for Shield. That's one problem to fix after another."

They laugh together and he felt better.

Skye was right, he could talk to Simmons, of course he could. About everything, about anything. Even this.

/-/-/

A man, Simmons guessed was Erin's father, answered the door.

"Hello?" He greeted.

"Hello," she chirped. "Mr. Hotchner I presume?"

"Yes, what do you need?" He asked politely, a smile on his face that reminded her vaguely of her own father. She tucked a note in the back of her mind that she needed to call her parents again soon.

"Jemma Simmons," she introduced, matching his tone. "I'm from the RCMP," she flashed her badge which had been made specially for occasions like this. Nailed it! That sounded convincing, she hadn't even stuttered. She'd been practicing all the way there. "I need to talk with your daughter. She isn't in any trouble," she added quickly as his eyes widened in concern. "We just think she may have seen something to do with the killer bees that are loose in the woods." She smiled at him reassuringly. "May I speak with her?"

"I'm sure she'd be thrilled," he smiled back. "My little Erin is always going on about insects and she wants to join Shield when she grows up. She's got plans that's for sure," he finished proudly. "Come in, I'll call her down. Erin!" He called up the staircase as Simmons entered and took off her shoes because she'd noticed he was in socks. He led her to the living room and had her sit on their sofa while she waited.

So Erin wanted to join Shield, she thought. She certainly was clever and hard working. Her notebook alone showed that.

"Coffee?" He offered awkwardly. "Oh... Er... Are you allowed on the job?"

"I'm fine," she answered. "But yes, just no alcohol."

Oh wait... Those were the rules for Shield but were they for the RCMP? Had she given herself away?

"Oh, good then," he said, to her relief not noticing anything off about her statement. Phew.

"What is it?" Erin asked, thumping down the stairs. She grinned as she saw Simmons. "Hi Jemma!" She exclaimed. "Are you guys done already?"

"We've met before," Simmons explained to her father's raised eyebrows. "She was helping us with her vast knowledge of insects."

"Oh wow, sweetie! Why didn't you tell me?" He asked his daughter.

She shrugged, "I was going to."

"Well, help away my little entomologist," he instructed. "I'll be in the yard if you need me."

"Dad, I'm almost thirteen, I'm not little," she complained.

"Of course not," he agreed, though he didn't really sound as if he were taking her seriously.

She rolled her eyes as he left. "He is so embarrassing," she sighed. "But we are going fishing this weekend. Have you ever heard of the night of desirable objects?"

Simmons shook her head.

"It's a special lure my dad got me for my birthday, its for- oh but you didn't come here for that right? What did you need?"

Simmons looked to be sure Erin's father was outside before answering. "I'm here about the missing pages," she said.

"Oh..." she looked nervous, picking at the skin around her fingernails. "The lure is for catching trout-" she began.

"Erin," Simmons interrupted sternly. "Please, I need you to tell me. Those bees are dangerous. My friends and my... People I care a about very much are out there and they could be hurt or even killed. Do you understand that?"

Erin nodded unhappily. "Yes." She mumbled.

"I need to protect them," she pressed, hoping she was getting through to her. "Them and everyone in this town. But I can't do that unless you help me."

The girl stared at her, seeming to struggle with herself. "Are you really going to kill them?" She whispered.

Simmons raised her eyebrows, not understanding.

"The bees," she clarified, eyes bright. "You read my notes right? They're friendly, they are! I've been around them loads of times and I haven't gotten hurt. I only got stung once and it was because I stepped on one by mistake. She was OK but..."

"You like the bees," Simmons realized.

She nodded. "I don't... Have any friends anymore. Matt promised we'd still be friends but he hasn't messaged me at all in two weeks. He probably found new friends," she said quietly. "But those bumble bees, they're nice and I can talk to them. I know they don't understand but-"

"I'll do my best to avoid killing them," Simmons promised, understanding. Fitz and Skye had grown attached to blue, the bees weren't monsters, and they probably were just defending themselves. "It wouldn't be right anyway to simply eradicate a whole species like that. Maybe we can move them somewhere else, somewhere people won't run into them."

"Really?" She asked, eyes round and hopeful.

"I'll do my best," Simmons repeated. "But if they threaten my team, or the people here-"

"I understand," Erin told her. "Thank you Jemma."

She was actually being reasonable, huh. Maybe Simmons had a way with children after all. Or at least ones who loved insects and wanted to be Shield agents. A very specific group.

"What's written on the missing pages?" She inquired.

Erin took a deep breath and paused before answering. "It's a cave," she informed her. "The bees come out of a cave."

"You mean it's their nest?" Simmons asked.

She shook her head. "No, not exactly."

Simmons eyebrows rose up. What did she mean, not exactly?

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never went to summer camp except once with Brownies, but that was actually more in the spring. I got the rule from a childhood friend who did go and would tell stories of her time there. Once there was a cougar on the loose and they had to travel in threes. :O
> 
> The Fringe reference in this story is the night of desirable objects. It is the name of a season 2 episode and a fishing lure in the episode. Peter bought it as a child hoping to go fishing with Walter (his father) but Walter was too busy for his son and Peter wound up fishing sad and alone.


	8. Epiphany

The sun was setting, casting red-orange light through the trees as the two of them went alone to investigate the cave. The others stayed behind with the traps or patrolling the area for other sneaky, misbehaving little scoundrels who might have tried to get in.

It was going to be a tight space even with just the two of them and they were all the job really required anyway, their skills making them the most suited.

No bad guys here, only giant killer bees, let's send the scientists. Not that he was scared.

Besides, sending too many people would probably frighten the bees, make them more dangerous.

So the pair had stored their bracelets in a plastic bag (so as not to attract the bees to their hands) and set off on their own.

He irritably swatted at the mosquitoes humming around his face. There was only one bug he liked and she was back on the Bus, probably wiggling around those adorable little antennae or drinking up some honey.

"I think one bit through my shoe!" He complained.

"That's ridiculous, they're not nearly big enough for that. Unless they're mutant ones." she joked, hopping over a log a bit ahead of him. "Watch your step!" She warned. "I'll give you some cream when we get back. It works on both."

"Aren't they bothering you?" He inquired, chuckling at her. Silly Simmons, joking about mutant mosquitoes. She was joking right?

"I stopped noticing," she told him. "I think there may be less out now."

"I think there might be more," he grumbled.

"Oh Fitz, it's so lovely here. Aren't you enjoying the walk even a little?" She asked.

"This is just like that one night in October," he replied, shaking his head. "Do you remember? When you made me go on that haunted walk with you?"

"You had fun!" She protested. "Don't pretend you didn't, I saw that grin on your face when you scared me with those branches."

He smiled, remembering it. She'd got him back, hiding behind a bush and jumping out at him, causing him to let out a loud, long scream which got him into trouble with the guide.

"And don't pretend you didn't enjoy scaring the life out of me," he shot back playfully. "You scheming poltergeist."

She laughed and his heart sang. "I never said only you had fun."

"I meant about the bugs," he informed her after a minute. "I was covered in bumps and you barely had three bites. They don't like you, must know you're filled with vegetables."

"I remember the tour more than the mosquitoes," she giggled. "Maybe you should try the vegetables."

"Maybe," he answered, suddenly much less bothered by the bugs. As long as he was with Simmons he was happy.

/-/-/

They reached the entrance of the cave after around twenty minutes. They had gotten lost a few times on the way, however they'd known it was near the lake and had managed to find it eventually, following Erin's instructions.

The entrance was low so an adult would need to duck to go inside, he hoped it wasn't like that through the whole cave. The top of the cave's mouth was covered in moss and ferns and sloped down towards the lake so that he guessed the tunnels would lead beneath it.

Simmons balked a few meters before they reached it, eyes wide in terror.

"No," she whispered. "No, no, no, no. I can't... It's... All that rock... Just a tiny space... We won't be able to breath..."

She was trembling, her breath quick and panicky like she was waking from one of her nightmares. This cave must be reminding her of them he realized. Her nightmares... and the reason she had them.

"It's OK," he soothed, stepping between her and the entrance and placing his hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to go in, I can do it. Just wait here."

He began to pull away but she grabbed his sleeves, shaking her head.

"No! N-no that's worse..." She stammered. "I couldn't j-just... You... in there... w-with all that rock on top of you? That's as bad as the water... w-worse... And it goes under the lake..."

She clung to his arms, eyes round, shaking her head.

It was clear that she was terrified. She didn't want to go in and she didn't want him to go in either but he couldn't see a way around at least one of those things happening.

"Simmons-" he began gently.

"It's fine," she squeaked, taking a deep breath. "I'm coming, I just need a minute. Don't go in without me."

"I can go get someone else," he offered but she shook her head.

"We're the best qualified for this," she said. "Just give me a minute."

"OK," he agreed.

Her breathing was evening out, however she still gripped his arms tightly. She closed her eyes and her face set in determination.

"I'm ready now," she announced, releasing him but remaining close.

He nodded. "Let's go then."

Together they approached the hole. Her shoulder was only millimeters from his own and she was pale but her expression was resolved.

She started shaking again when they were inside so he reached down and took her hand. A small smile formed on her face and she ran her thumb back and forth across the back of his palm, gazing at him with what must have been love.

'I can tell her,' he thought. 'After this I can tell her. She'll understand.'

/-/-/

Simmons took out a flashlight as they spelunked deeper into the cave. It was easier to call it spelunking, a word for exploring caves. It made it almost sound fun.

Fitz had started joking about it, twisting his tongue on the funny word, when she began to look anxious again.

That and his hand in hers helped stave off her fear.

"What did Erin say again?" He was asking. "About the bees and the cave?"

"She said they appear here some nights," she told him. "As if out of nowhere. There's a loud noise and some shaking and then they're just here."

"Nothing comes out of nowhere," he muttered. "Are you sure she isn't lying about this too?"

"She sounded sincere," she replied simply. "There must be a reason. Giant insects living in this world's atmosphere don't make much sense either but here we are looking for them." She laughed. "Maybe they're from another world."

Maybe they were from another world. What if...?

"There are other worlds," she realized out loud. "Other worlds like Asgard. I've read about some of them. One did have an atmosphere with a higher oxygen concentration. Fitz what if there's a portal in here?" She exclaimed.

"A what?" He asked, turning and raising his eyebrows at her. "Simmons that... Might actually make sense."

"There have been a few found in caves-" she began.

"-with the right minerals as an energy source-" he continued.

"-and lying on one of the interworld planes." She finished, beaming. "There's one around here! It covers half of Ontario. The bees aren't a new species they're an old one from somewhere else!"

He beamed back at her just before the ground shook and there was a flash of light behind him. Then a swarm of the bees was suddenly headed straight towards him.

He didn't see them, he was facing her. There wasn't time for her to warn him so she did the only thing she could think to do and shoved him out of the way, letting the swarm hit her instead.

Two of the bees stung her ribs and she screamed as she pulled out the stingers and collapsed onto the ground.

Pain seared across her chest and she struggled to breath, gasping agonizingly to suck down each mouthful of air.

She heard Fitz call out to her, sounding incredibly distressed, and felt him wrap his arms around her from behind, dragging her away from the buzzing.

But where were they going to go?

She was terrified, trapped inside one of her nightmares where she fought for breath but this was so much worse because every breath felt like she was being ripped with a knife.

Fitz cried out and she knew he'd been stung, but he kept dragging her away.

'Just get out of here,' she thought desperately though she knew he wouldn't listen even if he could hear her.

This was a bad dream, a nightmare, but it was real. Everything she feared; suffocating, being trapped, him dying too, it was all here. She even imagined the sound of rushing water and felt it drenching her, soaking her body in freezing cold.

She was panicking, sobbing and wheezing and shaking from both cold and fear. Had she been able to, she knew she'd be screaming too.

Fitz held her up against his chest and let her grab both his hands. She squeezed them tightly and he kissed the top of her head.

"It's OK," he assured her softly, his voice filled with gentle love that pierced through her pain and terror. "Just breath, it'll be over soon. You can do this. You're strong and brave and I know you can do this."

Neither of them were being stung anymore. She didn't know why but she was too focused on pulling in each breath to try to figure it out.

She felt brave with him there, holding her up, both his hands in her own and pressing his cheek on the side of her head.

"You can do this," he kept saying determinedly, encouragingly. "Just keep breathing."

He was like a life jacket, pulling her to the surface and saving her from drowning. As long as he was there things were better, she was safe. Calming, she concentrated on the sound of his voice and following the instruction he kept repeating.

It was getting easier now, the pain was fading away and she leaned her face against his, feeling his tears fall onto it. He'd been frightened too, she realized.

"I'm OK," she assured him when she could breath again.

He didn't say anything, he just sniffed and carefully held her closer.

They remained like that while her head cleared and her breathing became even again. He kissed her cheek as she returned to normal and it spread warmth through her chest which replaced the vanishing ache.

"You did it," he told her, voice thick with relief. "It's over."

She kissed the side of his face, tasting the salt of his tears, and let her head rest back against him as the world came back into focus.

Once she recovered, she forced herself to squirm away and he helped her into a sitting position.

Her clothes were drenched and her hair dripped onto her back and face. The sound of rushing water still filled her head and she saw that it was because they were in a crevice behind a small waterfall. The bees buzzed just outside but seemed unable to, or uninterested in getting in.

She gasped, feeling her panic return and let out a yelp as the cave shook and debris rained on her head.

Still in a nightmare then.

Fitz placed his hand on her arm, his tear streaked face filled with courage. "We'll find a way out." He assured her before another tremor scattered debris on top of them.

"Why is it doing that?!" She demanded, wishing it would stop.

"I think it's the portal," he explained, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. "Whatever is keeping it open is sending out waves of energy into the rocks causing tiny earthquakes."

She was straining to keep her calm. "Is it going to fall on us?" She asked quietly, referring to the rock above.

He gazed up before shaking his head. "I don't know. It depends on how many earthquakes there are."

Her heartbeat quickened, the fear returning.

"But we'll find a way out," he insisted optimistically, still rubbing her shoulder. "I know we will. It's going to be OK." He smiled at her.

"It's going to be OK," she repeated. She took a breath, feeling his courage flow onto her. "What can we do?"

They brainstormed silently for a moment but neither one found an idea to throw out. All they had was her backpack which did have a can of extra strength bug-spray. That wouldn't work though, there were too many, they'd be stung to death anyway.

Another quake, this time a few rocks were dislodged and clattered onto the ground nearby. Thoughts of being crushed to death, unable to breath, returned and she let out out a squeak of terror.

"We'll get out of here," Fitz assured her, gently touching her cheek before taking her hand.

He wasn't necessarily telling the truth but his words chased away her fear and she held his hand in both her own, glad he was there and wishing he wasn't at the same time.

"I love you," she told him, staring into his eyes.

"I know," he smiled, placing his other hand over both of hers. "I love you too."

He wasn't getting it. To be fair she hadn't either, not until just now. What timing her heart had.

"No," she shook her head, needing him to understand. "Well yes... But..."

He tilted his head slightly, obviously confused.

"I.. I mean I.." Frustrated by her inability to communicate she decided to give up on words.

Bridging the gap between them she kissed him, her lips touching his and causing something to flap around in her stomach before she pulled away, scanning his face.

If anything he looked even more confused. "What?" He breathed.

"Do you need me to do it again?" she inquired, almost amused. How was he still not getting it?

"Again?" He repeated, looking slightly dazed.

The cave shook another time and he snapped back to reality.

They didn't have a lot of time but she needed him to know how she felt in case... Well she needed him to know.

She leaned forward and kissed him again, letting this one last for several seconds so he'd get the message clearly this time. He kissed her back and and she placed her arms around his neck, feeling like something warm and wonderful was flapping around inside of her.

She drew back, still holding onto him and he beamed at her. "So you...?" He asked.

"I love you," she said again and she could see that he finally understood.

"I love you too," he replied, eyes shining and she beamed back at him.

Rocks crashed to the floor beside them, pelting them with debris and they held onto each other tightly.

His arms kept her from losing herself in her terror as she tried to think of a way out. He was warm and he smelled comforting and familiar, he smelled right.

Smell...

"It's smell." She gasped.

"What?" He asked as she pulled away.

"They don't attack each other because they recognize their scent, they won't attack if you smell like one of them." She told him, her mind racing ahead of her words.

"Do we have any of the hormone mixture left?" He asked, keeping up with her thoughts.

She dug through the backpack and found the last vile of it. There wasn't much left, barely enough for two people, if that.

"Is that enough for both of us?" He wondered, gazing at it skeptically. "Jemma maybe you should just take-"

"There's enough," she interrupted, inviting no argument. "We are both using it, do you understand me?"

"You're sure?" He demanded, searching her face. "About there being enough, are you sure?"

"I don't know," she conceded, looking him in the eyes. "It depends on how strong their sense of smell is, how much they need to recognize friend from foe. It could be enough."

"But if it isn't-" he began.

"It doesn't matter if it isn't, we're both using it!" She snapped. "This is the only plan we have and we don't have time to argue about it. I'm not leaving here without you and I'm not letting you get hurt or worse. I'm sure you feel the same way so that leaves us with one option, we both use it."

Another tremor, followed by a small avalanche. He took a breath. "OK," he agreed. "Let's do this then."

She gave him a small smile, feeling her heart pulling her towards his.

Carefully she took the top off the vial and poured half of it onto her hand. Then she handed it to him and he put the top back on just before they felt the walls shake.

It was a smaller quake, fortunately, and she managed to hold onto the liquid in the cup of her palm.

She rubbed it on him first and he didn't protest. He watched her as she spread it over his face and neck, lingering on his cheek for an extra second to stroke it with her thumb. The little grin he gave her touched her heart.

He did the same for her next and then kissed her forehead lightly. She closed her eyes and let herself enjoy it for a moment before rising to her feet.

They took out an umbrella from her backpack to prevent the water from washing off the scent and she swung on her bag then took his hand.

"Are you ready?" She asked, taking in his face and trying to keep a picture of it in her mind.

He leaned forward and kissed her, setting off the wonderful flapping again.

"I'm ready," he told her.

"Don't let go," she said, squeezing his hand.

"I won't," he swore.

"Me neither," she vowed, gathering her courage.

Together they stepped under the waterfall and out into the buzzing swarm of bees.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention last chapter that the reason Simmons lied was that a lot of people probably still don't trust Shield since the events of the Winter Soldier. Some people do though, like Erin's family. Just on case that wasn't clear.
> 
> The Fringe reference is the line "one night in October". This is the name of a forth season episode of Fringe. The name refers to how something that happened one night in October changed one boy's life forever (and set him down a much different path from his alternate universe counterpart).
> 
> There are portals in the Marvel Universe. They open up after Thor 2


	9. Together

Fitz was a swirling storm of emotions. Not so long ago he'd been more frightened than he'd ever been in his life. Not frightened for himself but frightened for Simmons.

Her horrible wheezing had torn at his soul, hurt worse than the sting on his shoulder. He'd managed to get her to safety but she wasn't safe. She was in danger still, terrified and in horrible pain. She couldn't breathe and he couldn't do anything to help but hold her up and try to tell her it was OK even though he wasn't sure it was.

He'd tried to keep the desperation out of his voice, for her because she was already in a living nightmare. He'd told her to breathe, told her not begged her like he was doing in his head, and she had. She'd gotten through it and miraculously she was fine.

But they were trapped and, again, he'd tried to be brave for her because this was her nightmare they were living. Both their lives were at risk but this was her greatest fear not his. His had been averted when her breathing became even and unlaboured.

She'd told him she loved him and he hadn't understood. Of course she loved him, she didn't need to say it. Maybe she thought this was goodbye but that wasn't like her. It wasn't like Simmons to give up.

Then she'd kissed him and somehow he'd still been confused; unable to process everything that was happening, unable to comprehend why she would do that.

So she'd done it again, more intently, more passionately and it had finally clicked. She loved him like he loved her. She was in love with him.

His heart had filled with joy, so different from the dread which had filled it minutes before that it was like being teleported from the bottom of the ocean to the top of Mt. Everest. Which, had it really happened would have killed him instantly, but in this case it made him lightheaded and overjoyed and actually a bit disoriented.

And then they had a plan to escape. One that may very well get them stung to death by giant bees, but a plan none the less.

He was scared, for himself and for her, and everything was happening too fast. He wanted time to slow down, he wanted the walls to stop shaking and rocks to stop falling. He wanted to stay there and let her touch his face and see her smile just a little longer. He wasn't ready for this, he needed more time.

What if they died? What if he had to watch her struggling for breath again? What if they were never going to see or do anything ever again? What if this was the last time they would ever be together?

He couldn't handle everything that was happening. It was too much, too fast, too soon.

She took his hand and the world slowed down again. He felt her skin against his and the soft shape of her fingers as he took in her face, trying to keep an image of it in his mind, and a calm spread over him.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

He moved closer and kissed her, hopefully not for the last time, and felt a magnificent rush through his whole body.

"I'm ready," he told her.

She squeezed his hand. "Don't let go."

"I won't," he swore because whatever happened next there was no way he was letting go.

"Me neither," she vowed and he felt brave again. With her beside him he could do anything.

So they stepped together out into the swarm of buzzing bees.

It was chaos in the cave, bees flew panicked in all directions as the rocks fell around them. A few had been crushed by falling debris and lay in a gooey puddle on the cave floor.

Several flew up to them and he held his breath as they whizzed by but nothing happened. One ran into him and he flinched, expecting it to sting however it simply wiggled it's antennae at him and flew on.

It was working. Simmons beamed at him, looking almost giddy with relief and he smiled back as, incredibly, they walked untouched through the swarm.

He could see light ahead, the exit. The buzzing wasn't becoming any quieter though and he turned around to see that the bees were following them, attracted by the same hormones that stopped them from attacking. They were leading the colony out to safety.

'That's fine, lets save the bees.' he thought. 'Why not?'

As long as Simmons and himself were saved as well he was alright with that. He thought of Blue and found he was actually happy about it.

When they were safely outside the bees sped by them on either side, probably glad to be back in open air that wasn't raining rocks.

"We did it," Simmons breathed a grin spreading across her face before springing forward and enveloping him in a hug that nearly knocked him over. He wrapped his arms around her and they laughed together, delighted to be alive and to have each other.

He was disoriented again, lightheaded and dizzy with relief. It didn't help when she pulled her head back and kissed him, sending amazing surges of warmth rushing through him.

Dizzy was fine though, and he could live with being a little bit lightheaded.

They were interrupted by a loud crash as the walls of the cave finally gave way and it collapsed, the entrance now blocked by large stones.

Together they stared at it, wide eyed, and realizing how close they had come to their own deaths.

"That was close," she whispered, looking as if she were waking from a daze.

"Yeah," he agreed, his expression mirroring hers.

"We should find out where the bees are going," she suggested.

"Er... yeah, probably." he replied, feeling suddenly nervous.

'You just got out of a collapsing cave full of bees and now you're nervous?' he chided himself.

She smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss before taking his hand.

"C'mon then," she chuckled, pulling him along.

'Nothing to be worried about,' he assured himself as he trailed behind her. 'It's Jemma, she loves you and you love her. It's that easy.'

He wasn't worried, but his stomach still felt as if it was filled with buzzing bees.

/-/-/

"So does this mean I'm your boyfriend now?" Fitz asked as she helped him over the log.

Simmons blushed. "Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, very much yes... Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

She smiled at him fondly. "That would be wonderful, yes."

"Well there we are then," he said.

"There we are," she repeated, feeling suddenly awkward.

'No reason for that,' she scolded herself. 'It's Fitz, he loves you and you love him. No more limbo, this is the easy part.'

"What are we going to tell the others?" he wondered.

Maybe not that easy.

"How about we wait until we're finished with the bees," she recommended.

"Yeah, good idea." he agreed, sounding relieved.

She squeezed his hand. "It'll be fine," she assured him. "We can do anything together remember."

He squeezed back. "I know."

/-/-/

The bees had flown into the traps, about six or seven to each one so that they were squished inside. They'd told the other's about their experience in the cave and each received a hug from Skye and pat on the shoulder from everyone else.

Well, they'd told them about most of it anyway. They'd left out the part about confessing their feelings for each other. That could wait.

"Poor little things," Fitz fussed, "all cramped together. Do we have anything bigger to put them in?"

He was actually worried about the bees Simmons mused, he and Erin had more in common than they knew.

"Can we put them back in the cave?" May wondered, kneeling down to examine them with slightly less attachment than Fitz and Skye were showing.

"If we're going to do that I guess we should go get Blue," Skye sighed and Fitz looked unhappy.

She had a feeling she was going to need to console both of them that night over the loss of their new pet. On the bright side it might be a good enough excuse to cuddle with Fitz without raising any eyebrows.

"If we can move the debris," she informed them. Turning to Coulson she asked, "Can we do that?"

"To put an alien species back where it belongs?" he asked, smiling in amusement. "I think we can do that."

"That is our job after all," Trip added. "Keeping the world in balance."

"Or worlds in this case," she chuckled and they smiled at her.

The others set to work renting a bulldozer while she, Fitz and Skye returned to the bus to retrieve Blue. Fitz and Skye were melancholy all the way there, talking about fuzzy backs, adorable little eyes and wiggly antennae.

All the way back they kept fussing over Blue and discussing how lethargic she seemed, worrying she was suffering from the effects of oxygen deprivation.

Maybe she was, Simmons thought, she did seem a bit off.

Fitz snuggled with and cooed at the little creature and she couldn't help but feel a wave of affection at how adorable he was with her. Maybe she should get him a cat. No, they didn't have time for a cat.

He could snuggle with her instead, that seemed like a good solution. She felt warm at the thought.

By the time they reached the cave, the debris had been mostly moved out of the way and the portal was open.

The bees were released and they flew back into it in a haphazard line. Skye and Fitz each gave Blue one more hug then let her fly away.

"I'm really going to miss her," he sniffed. "She was the best bug I've ever met, even if her stinger was starting to grow back."

"I know," she soothed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "It's OK sweetheart, she's better off in her home with her family."

"Yeah, you're right," he sighed, giving her a one armed squeeze.

Skye noticed the exchange and raised an eyebrow at them over bright eyes.

They quickly pulled away from each other, turning pink and trying to look like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"You need a hug too don't you Skye?" she said, trying to cover her awkwardness.

She hugged her friend, who probably really did need one.

"I know," Skye whispered before she pulled away.

Simmons' gaze darted around anxiously but everyone else was watching the bees. "Know what?" she giggled nervously.

"I may have told her about me being in love with you..." Fitz admitted.

"Shhh!" Simmons demanded, holding out her hands. "Alright, alright yes! I am in love with Fitz and he is in love with me and now we're together."

"Seriously?" Skye exclaimed, grinning. "I knew it." She gave herself a fist pump.

"Shhhh!" the both scolded.

"We don't want that to get out to everyone," Fitz explained in a hushed voice.

"At least not yet," Simmons added exchanging a glance with him. They weren't keeping this a secret.

"What's with all the hush hush?" she wondered. "Oh... you don't think you'll get in trouble? I mean c'mon it isn't like it's all that different from before. When has your relationship ever been only professional? Now you guys are just-"

"Shhh!" they shushed again.

She laughed at them. "Yeah, yeah. I get it, stop talking about it."

/-/-/

It was late at night and Simmons sat beside Fitz in her bunk, not wanting him to leave but knowing he probably should. It wouldn't be appropriate for him to sleep in there with her. It would raise questions they weren't ready to answer, break the rules. She usually felt better when she was following the rules but not this time.

It had been a long evening, she and Fitz had found a way to close the portal by taking away the mineral energy source which had been keeping it open. They hauled out at least eighteen kilograms of the mineral, which was made from a special form of crystallized quartz. No more bees coming through.

She'd paid a visit to Erin to tell her the news. The girl had been sad about the bees but had informed her brightly that she'd received a message from her friend who had been grounded for two weeks for setting off fireworks in his school's cafeteria.

"That's Matt," she'd chuckled, "Always getting into trouble."

Simmons was glad the two were still friends. Erin was a good kid and no one should ever have to lose their best friend.

And she hadn't lost hers, he'd just gained a new title and now she knew she also enjoyed kissing him. She'd probably enjoy doing a lot of other things with him too.

Now here she was, after watching The Bee Movie and the 1994 Lassie with him and Skye (they'd both cried at the end of Lassie), sitting on her bed beside him trying to find a way to admit to him that she'd been lying for months.

"I mean why would they make you think the dog was dead?" he demanded. "How is that appropriate for children?"

"Fitz-" she said quietly.

"I cried, so what? I'm not made of stone, it was sad. Not that you're made of stone... you cry too of course you-"

"Fitz!" she exclaimed, torn between annoyance and affection. Of course he cared if the dog died, he had a kind, caring heart and she loved him for it but she needed his attention.

"Huh?" he stopped chattering about the film.

"I-I have to tell you something," she stammered, suddenly nervous now that she did have his attention. "I lied to you." she whispered.

"Oh no," he worried. "You don't really want to be my girlfriend do you?"

"What? No, not that. Of course I do, stop being ridiculous." she ordered.

"OK, then what?" he asked.

"You told me," she made herself say, before she lost her courage. "When we were in the box, you told me you were in love with me."

"Oh," he replied quietly and she tried to read his expression but couldn't.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "It was wrong and selfish but I didn't know how I felt and I was so frightened... I thought I was going to lose you if I didn't love you the way you loved me... I do, I know now that I do but... but however I felt about you I didn't want to let you go. And I know that isn't a reason to lie but-"

"It's OK." he told her gently, taking her hand. "I understand. I understand it all now. It seemed so strange to me that I wouldn't have told you how I felt if I was sure I was going to die."

She closed her eyes, trying not to remember the moment he was talking about, she still woke up terrified, thinking was dead.

"I get how scared you were," he went on. "I was scared too. I was afraid that if you knew we wouldn't be us anymore. But you could never lose me Jemma, I'll always be your Fitz."

"And I'll always be your Simmons," she answered, her eyes filling with tears. "Oh no, why am I crying?" she squeaked, wiping her eyes.

"Because you aren't made of stone," he told her warmly, pulling her into his arms. "I love you Jemma."

"I love you too," she replied, holding him close to her.

He was so much to her. He was her best friend, her partner, the other end of her thoughts and she knew now that he was also the other half of her heart.

He stayed with her that night. They decided that if anyone but Skye asked about it they'd tell them she'd had a nightmare. It seemed almost wrong to lie like that but she told herself it wasn't forever. They'd come clean in the morning.

They lay beside each other and she stroked the side of his face with her thumb and he ran the tops of his fingers across her cheek as they talked into the early morning hours.

They chatted away about everything from science to sandwiches to why no one should ever kill off the dog (or the bee) ever. They talked about anything and everything until sleep finally pulled them away. She suspected, however, that even sleep could not truly separate them because she felt his presence even in her dreams which were wonderful.

No more nightmares, he'd chased them all away.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have reached the end of the story, Yay! Never forget though that there will always be more stories, from lots of people. When we write we dream better worlds and when we read we can travel between them. (Was that too cheezy for you? Sorry haha. I was going off an earlier Fringe reference.)
> 
> The Fringe reference in this story is the crystallized quartz. In the fifth season of Fringe it is needed by the team to build something which will stop the observers. The crystals are an energy source in Fringe too and they need at least eighteen kilograms of them for it to work.
> 
> I guess I can say now without giving away anything that Erin was first named after Aaron from the fourth season episode of Fringe: Alone in the World. In that episode a lonely boy, Aaron, bonds with and forms a psychic connection with a sentient fungus (later named Gus) because both are feel like they are alone in the world. He was part of the inspiration for Erin's storyline. That and I wanted to put in a kid who knew something but wasn't saying and could bond with Simmons but annoy Fitz.
> 
> I actually have a stuffed bee in my room named Abby L'abbielle (my family is French and my cousin named her) and I had her with me while I was working on this and realized Abby is a way better name than Blue. I mean it's A bee. (and sounds sort of like abbielle which means bee). But Blue is good too and it went with Skye. (Blue Skies makes me think of Taffy from Dollhouse.)
> 
> The Everest thing is from a book series I read as a kid called Everest. One of the characters is explaining at one point why you need to climb mountains in stages. He says that if you were to be teleported from the lowest point on land (the dead sea) to the top of Mt. Everest you would die instantly.
> 
> Also setting off fireworks indoors is a very bad and dangerous idea. Don't do it.
> 
> This story has nine chapters :) nine so happens to be my favourite number. Yay.


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